Sophisticated vehicles such as military vehicles and aircraft have considerable electronic circuitry joined together by electrical cables. The electrical cables are routed inside the vehicle chassis or aircraft fuselage and are fairly inaccessible. Often military aircraft need to be repaired in the field where time consuming and laborious repair of interior electrical cables is not practical or possible. In many instances, engine removal is necessary to repair defective cabling. A common cause of damage is that of bullets piercing the fuselage skin and cable of aircraft resulting in shorting out of cables. The skill required to replace cables inside the fuselage of the aircraft in accordance with original specifications is often not available in many field installations. The rapid repair of electrical cables and assemblies in modern sophisticated aircraft is a problem to which considerable attention need be given.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,654,380 discloses a woven cable having plural conductors twisted together as one and bound side-by-side in a woven harness having a general box-weave pattern. However, this pertains only generally and lacks specific features as disclosed herein to provide a suitable cable or method for the rapid repair of a defective electrical cable.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide an electrical transmission cable and method for rapidly repairing a damaged or defective electrical cable in an aircraft.
Another object of the invention is to provide a woven electrical transmission cable and method for rapidly repairing electrical cables inside an aircraft fuselage and the like wherein access to the interior of the fuselage is not necessary so that a rapid repair may be had without the need of extensive skill and labor.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a woven electrical transmission cable for rapidly repairing an electrical cable in an aircraft and the like wherein conductors in the cable may be broken out in a programmed manner and routed through access openings in the fuselage for rapid repair.
Another object of the invention is to provide a woven electrical transmission cable and method for rapidly repairing a defective electrical cable in an aircraft and the like having longitudinal anchor cords woven into the cable which may be embedded in a matrix to bond the cable to the exterior skin of the aircraft so that repair may be had from the exterior of the aircraft avoiding the time consuming and tedious operation of preparing the electrical cable on the inside of the aircraft. In accordance with the invention, the defective electrical cable inside the aircraft may be by-passed and a repair cable affixed to the outside skin of the aircraft which may be routed through access openings into the aircraft for termination at the terminals of the by-passed cable.